Tuck-greaser for sewing-machines



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. A. ESTAVER. TUGK GREASER FOR SEWING MACHINES.

Patented Aug. 25 1891.

as, A W

(m Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. A. ESTAVBR. TUGKCREASER FOR smwnw MACHINES.

No. 458,360. Patent edAu'g. 25, 1891.

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fitted in the same head-piece D.

WILLIAM A. ESTAVER, OF XVORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

TUCK-CREASER FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 458,360, dated August25, 1891.

Application filed November 21, 1890. Serial No. 372,250. (No model.)

To all w/wm it mag concern.-

Be it known that I, W'ILLIAM A. ESTAVER, of the city and county ofYVorcester and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Tuckers for Sewing-Machines; and Ido here bydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and theletters of reference marked thereon, forming a part of thisspecification, and in which Figure 1 represents a side View of a sewingmachine having my present improvements combined therewith, as will behereinafter described. Fig. 2 represents a plan view of a section cut ina horizontal plane on line a: m, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents an endviewlooking in the direction indicated by arrow, Fig. 1. Fig. 4represents a verticalsection on line yy, Fig. 1, looking in thedirectlon lndicated by arrow 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 represents a slimlarsection to show a slight modification of some of the parts, as will behereinafter more fully described; and Fig. 6 represents a detached part.

To enable those skilled in the art to which my invention belongs to makeand use the same, I will now describe the invention more in detail.

In the drawings the part marked A is the base of the machine; B,thetablepart, on which is fastened the top plate or table for the work and whichis lettered C, while B is a shield piece to cover and protect the mainshaft D, fitted to turn in pipe-bearings, the front one being in thetable part B and the rear one in the side of the curved frame-piece A,the

parts A, B, and A being in this instance cast in one piece forconvenience of construction. The needle-arm C is pivoted to theframepiece A at a, and the needle-bar is fitted in hearings in thehead-piece D, while the presser-foot E is also secured to a post E,Needle-bar C is operated by its arm 0 in the usual manner. The same istrue of the resser-post E and its foot E, they being operated in thewell-known manner. The guard or cap piece B is fastened to the lowerside of the curved frame-piece A by screw 1) and serves as a cap to therear bearings of the main shaft D.

On shaft D is arranged a hub-piece F, having 011 its front a cam F, onwhich rests a roll 0 in the lower end of the standard F the upper end ofwhich is pivoted to the front end of rock-arm F, the rear end of whichis connected to the lower end of spiral spring F ply loosening set-screwe rock-shaft G can be adjusted longitudinally to set the creaserarm G onits outer end nearer to or farther from the needle G for making anarrower or wider tuck, as desired, shaft G being prevented from turningduring such adjustment by spline d and the screw e, the point of whichremains in the conical depression d in the faceof spline cl, permittingshaft to be moved longitudinally but not around in its bearings in theframe-piece H, fastenedjto the head-piece D on the front' lower end offrame-piece A. One side of frame-piece H is left open, as indicated inFigs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, and shaft G. is supported at the frontend in a pipe-bearing in the end H of frame-piece H, while its rearend-passes through and is supported in a tubular projection F on hub Fprojection F being in turn supported in the rear end H of framepiece H,both of said supports being in the form of pipe-bearings.

I is the creasera e provided with a thin upturned edge f; upon which thecreaser-arm G presses the materials to be tucked to form a crease-markas a guide to the operative in folding the material to be tucked, andthereby secure uniformity and precision of the tucks. To insureevenness, tuck-creaser arm G should be set so that its contact-surfaceor point at which it comes in contact with edge f will be about oppositea point in line with a vertical plane passingthrough the contactsurfacesof the presser-foot and feed at right angles to the line of feed, sothat the mate rialwill be held firmly and prevented from being drawnaway from the action of needle G by the downward motion of thecreaserarm G. Creaser-arm G is forced down upon the edge f by the spiralspring F", the upper end of which is fastened to or hooked upon a pin f'in the side of the curved frame-piece A and is elevated by cam F,standard F and arm F As it is desirable to have the end of thecreaser-arm G strike the ed ge f of the creasergage I with the fullforce of spring F standard F is made adjustable in length, so that rolla will not reach and rest on cam F before the creaser-arm G rests on theedge f of gage I when said arm is depressed by the contraction of spiralspring F, as before explained, and this adjustment is accomplished bymaking the lower end I of standard F separate from the upper part andproviding it with a hole for the reception of the round end of thestandard F and in which hole it is held by set-screw 0. Roll 0 isarranged to turn on apin passing through the slotted bottom of theadjustable end, and by raising and lowering the adjustable end I thelength of standard F can be readily adjusted, as desired and for thepurposes stated. The force with which the crease-mark will be made willtherefore depend upon the contracting force of spring F", and this maybe made greater or less, as desired, by the use of a weaker or strongerspring.

It will be observed that I have so constructed the creasing mechanismand arranged and combined the same with the stitch forming and feedingmechanism of a sewing-machine that its work is very perfect and theparts are not liable to become broken or displaced l in use. By a slightloosening of set-screw e rock-shaft G can be moved longitudinally ineither direction, but kept from turning, and therefore the creasingforce of arm G will remain the same however often said shaft is adjustedlongitudinally.

In Fig. .5 a slight modification of mechanism for operating rockshaft Gis shown and in which a lever J is pivoted at g to the bed of themachine and extends back and has its outer end connected by a pivot tothe lower end of the connecting-piece J, the upper end of which ispivoted to arm K, fastened to the end of rock-shaft G; and the pivotedconnections it h can be changed to the holes m m in lever J and arm K,respectively, for the purpose of giving a greater or less rock to shaftG, and by which arrangement a cam F of less throw can be used. Spring Fis employed in the same manner in Fig. 5 as in Fig. at.

L is the inner tucker-gage, its arm L having a slot in which thethumb-screw L passes to fasten it to top plate 0 in the desired distancefrom the needle, the folded edge of the tuck being run along against theupright or guide edge L when the tuck is being stitched in place.

"When the machine is to be used without the tucker being in operation,spring F is unhooked at the top, standard F lifted up and thrown overrock-shaft G, when the latter, together with rock-arm F and spring Fwill tip or turn down and back, as indicated in dotted lines, Fig. at,and as rock-arm F turns back rock-shaft G is also rocked or turned overand creaser G turned forward and up out of the way, when the machine canbe used for ordinary sewing.

It will be noticed that the tucker mechanism is wholly independent ofand disconnected from needle-arm and needle-bar, and consequently thelatter are not worn or encumbered by the drag or power necessary tooperate the tucking mechanism, while the tucking mechanism does not haveto be removed from its connections and bearings above the top plate whenthe machine is to be used for ordinary sewing.

To enable the operative to quickly set the gages I and L to make thedesired width of tuck, the top plate 0 is marked off by lines parallelwith the line of feed of the work to be tucked. In this instance thelines to the right of the needle are marked one-eighth,three-sixteenths, one-fourth, five-sixteenths, and one-half of an inchfrom the needle, respectively, while the lines to the left of the needleare just double-viz., two-eighths, sixsixteenths, one-half,ten-sixteenths, and one inch. The marker or creaser gage I is set by thelatter lines or marks, while the other tucker-gage is set by the formerlines or marks. For instance, atuek one-half of an inch wide is desired,and gage I is set to bring its creaser-edge f one inch from the needle,while gageLis set one-half of an inch from the needle, and the materialthus marked or creased is turned under on the crease or mark line, andthe material thus doubled is fed through with the doubled edge next tothe upright part L of tucker-gage L, which being in this instance setone-half of an inch from the needle the tuck will be stitched justone-halfinch wide, and other widths of tuck are quickly made by mypresent improvements. Frame-piece H is fastened rigidly to headpiece Dby bolt N.

Two projections 15 t are so arranged as to guide the lower end I ofstandard F and keep it from slipping out of place when at its highestelevation, projection tbeing on the inner edge of top plate 0, whileprojection t is on the outer and left-hand edge of the shield-piece B,and projection 25 is provided with a vertical slot for the guide-pin tin the part I. (See full and dotted lines, Figs. 1 and 2.)

In Fig. 5 the upper end of connection J is shown havinga hole to receivethe upper end of the lower part, with a set-screw t to hold the partstogether, while a friction-roll is shown in dotted lines on leverJ torun against cam F. Connection J can thus be made longer or shorter, thesame as connection F Fig. 4, and for the same purpose.

It will be seen that cam F does not extend entirely around shaft D, butends abruptly at its thickest end, thereby letting the standard orconnection F with its friction-roll 0, drop down into the positionswhich they occupy in full lines in Fig. at. This construction permitsthe creaser-arm to descend or be forced down by spring F upon thematerial to be creasedbya hammer blow, thereby producing better Work,with less drag on the working parts of the machine than would be thecase if arm G were not thus free to act and do its work by the momentumacquired by the sudden release and contraction of spring F By my presentinvention tucking of the most perfect form can be produced bycomparatively unskilled operatives, and that, too, at a rate of speednever before attained, while the working parts of the sewing-machine arenot unduly loaded down or W01l1 or strained.

In addition to the above advantages the operator, even though not verymuch skilled in the art, can accurately adjust the tucking mechanism,and that, too, in a quick and expeditious manner, and as the adjustmentof each gage is made independently of the other the movement of one doesnot displace the other, nor does the adjustment of the rock or creaserarm G loosen either of the gages.

Having described my improvements for tuckers for sewing-machines, what Iclaim therein as new and of my invention, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

1. The combination, with frame-piece H, provided with pipe-bearings, andsplined rocker-shaft G, arranged above and parallel with the top of theWork-table and between the needle-bar G and presser-foot post E andprovided with creaser-arm G on its front end, of creasing-edge f, spring1?, hub F provided with tubular bearing end F rockarm F upright movablestandard F provided with an adjusting end I, having guidepin 1?, slottedprojection 75, set-screw c, and cam F, said parts being constructed andarranged for operation substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination, with frame-piece H, provided with pipe-bearings, andsplined rocker-shaft G, arranged above and parallel with the top of thework-table and between the needle-bar O and presser-foot post E andprovided with creaser-arm G on its front end, of creasing-edge f, springF hub F provided with tubular bearing end F and mechanism for operatingrock-shaft G and its creaser-arm G from the main shaft arranged belowthe Work-table, substantially as described.

WILLIAM A. ESTAVER.

Witnesses:

THOS. H. DODGE, DAVID L. BRADT.

